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About The Right Way to Do Wrong

One of the most intriguing and recognized figures of the twentieth century conducts a masterclass in subversion

Originally published in 1906, The Right Way to Do Wrong was a masterclass in subversion conducted by the world’s greatest illusionist. It collected Hou­dini’s findings, from interviews with criminals and police officers, on the most surefire ways to commit crime and get away with it.

This volume presents the best of those writings alongside little-known articles by Houdini on his own brand of deception: magic. Revealing the secrets of his signature tricks, including handcuff and rope escapes, and debunking the methods of his rivals, he proves himself to be just as clever and nimble a writer as he was a magician—and surprisingly free with trade secrets! All of which makes this unique selection of works both the ultimate anti-etiquette guide and proof that things are not always as they seem.

In an exclusive introduction to this volume, Teller—magician, comedian, and silent sidekick of Penn Jillette—speaks up about the greatest magician of modern times.

About The Right Way to Do Wrong

One of the most intriguing and recognized figures of the twentieth century conducts a masterclass in subversion

Originally published in 1906, The Right Way to Do Wrong was a masterclass in subversion conducted by the world’s greatest illusionist. It collected Hou­dini’s findings, from interviews with criminals and police officers, on the most surefire ways to commit crime and get away with it.

This volume presents the best of those writings alongside little-known articles by Houdini on his own brand of deception: magic. Revealing the secrets of his signature tricks, including handcuff and rope escapes, and debunking the methods of his rivals, he proves himself to be just as clever and nimble a writer as he was a magician—and surprisingly free with trade secrets! All of which makes this unique selection of works both the ultimate anti-etiquette guide and proof that things are not always as they seem.

In an exclusive introduction to this volume, Teller—magician, comedian, and silent sidekick of Penn Jillette—speaks up about the greatest magician of modern times.

From the Trade Paperback edition.

Praise

“Houdini was the scourge of spiritualists.” —The Wall Street Journal

“There is no trick of the recognized masters, from Cagliostro’s magic mirror to Kellar’s Hindoo lamp and Maskelyne and Devant’s Haunted Window, that Houdini did not succeed in fathoming and, when he liked, duplicating.” —The New York Times

“He was the wonder of the world in an old world hungry for wonders. . . He was the embodiment of something incredible. . . He came to represent the sum of all amazements.” —The Guardian

“A master of cunning and endurance.” —NPR

“He remains a mystery. His naivete and his shrewdness, his shyness and his exhibitionism, his kindness and his unforgiving antagonisms proclaim a complicated and unknowable man.” —New York Review of Books

“He seemed to express in his whole being and in his whole deportment: ‘I am who I am. I am the greatest. I am Harry Houdini.'”—E.L. Doctorow

“Houdini is a witty writer and writes unselfconsciously about subjects that surely would have scandalized his contemporaries.” —Reference and Research Book News